harry reid wasn't at the capital yesterday. mitch mcconnell was there. the senior staff are trying to figure out what palsy is acceptable. they are trading very detailed information, they are getting scores from the joint committee on taxation to figure out how much money the various proposals raise. you have the white house team and democratic team in reid's office. the republican team in mcconnell's office. they are gaming out what they want and throw in offers across the table. the good news is they are trading those offers. >> t.j., can i say a word in defense of asinine politicians? the asinine politicians are reflecting real divisions in the country, divisions of self-interest, divisions of philosophy. it's more difficult to do because of the structure of our system, the way the two parties developed. ultimately, they are talking act thing that is cost people money and things that would benefit others financially. those are difficult issues to settle. you know, our system was designed to make them difficult to settle, not as difficult as they are i